The Tampa Bay Buccaneers ran their postseason streak to five consecutive seasons in 2024, but just getting a taste of the playoffs wasn’t nearly enough for head coach Todd Bowles.
During the NFL Annual Meeting in West Palm Beach, Bowles issued a strong challenge to his team, ahead of preparation for the 2025 season kicking into overdrive.
“I feel good that we know how to win,” Bowles told reporters Tuesday at the NFL’s Annual League Meeting. “I don’t feel good about us finishing the season from a playoff aspect, and [in] the middle of the season, having a drought two years in a row. We’ve got to be better from that standpoint — from a coaching standpoint, from veterans holding everybody else accountable standpoint, which they do, but we’ve got to do a lot more of that. We’ve got to play not even better football at the end, but we’ve got to have killer instinct. We’ve got to try to blow people out and try to win the division instead of it going down to the last week.”
The Buccaneers, under Bowles have surpassed 10 wins in three of the past five seasons amid a four-season streak of winning the NFC South. However, Tampa Bay ran into a buzzsaw in the Washington Commanders, led by upstart No. overall pick Jayden Daniels at quarterback, falling in the NFC Wild Card round.
Bowles hopes to lean on the veterans on the roster, starting with a strong cast of offensive weapons to help lift Tampa Bay further in 2025.
Key Signings Could Bolster The Tampa Bay Buccaneers
For the second consecutive offseason, Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht was laser-focused on retaining some of the veteran players most vital to Tampa’s success.
By bringing back veteran wide receiver Chris Godwin and linebacker Lavonte David, Licht followed the blueprint the Buccaneers front office drew up the prior offseason by retaining David, wide receiver Mike Evans, and quarterback Baker Mayfield.
However, Licht and the Buccaneers also made a big splash by signing Haason Reddick to a one-year deal in free agency, betting big that the veteran pass rusher will be motivated to secure another big payday by adding a disruptive element to the front seven.
As the Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, and Carolina Panthers remain in various states of rebuilding, the Buccaneers retaining established veteran talent has opened up a gap in the division. How much further the Bucaneers are able to advance in the postseason will determine how successful the 2025 campaign turns out to be.
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